(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) – Alternative-pop trio BETTY brings its singular blend of punk, pop, and politics to Club B-10 at MASS MoCA on Saturday, March 22, 2014, at 8pm. The group’s appearance on MASS MoCA’s stage coincides with the presentation of new music commissioned for work in the galleries; Darren Waterston’s installation Filthy Lucre features a voice and cello soundscape composed by the band.
The techno-beat, New York City trio of vocalists and musicians – Alyson Palmer (cello), Amy Ziff (guitar), and Elizabeth Ziff (bass) – has been harmonizing punk, pop, and politics since 1986. After recently releasing its seventh full album entitled “not-so-happy-holidays,” the group has been rocking righteously with virtuoso guitarist Tony Salvatore and dazzling drummer Mino Gori, exciting audiences with audacious, alternative sounds on stages the world over.
As an activist group, BETTY puts its money where its mouth is, and is helping to raise millions of dollars with every show for causes such as equal rights for the LGBT community, curing breast cancer and AIDS, Planned Parenthood, the pro-choice movement, and ending sexual violence. The trio has written and starred in two successful musicals, and its extensive film and television work runs the gamut from Nickelodeon to HBO; fans of the Showtime hit The L Word (2004 – 2009) will recognize BETTY from guest appearances and the series’ theme song.
Gloria Steinem aptly describes BETTY as “three women singing their own songs with heart, humor, activism, attitude, and, dare I say, genius. You’ll never want to leave.”
At MASS MoCA, BETTY composed a soundscape for artist Darren Waterston’s Filthy Lucre – a re-imagining of James McNeill Whistler’s legendary Peacock Room at the heart of Waterston’s upcoming exhibition Uncertain Beauty. BETTY’s atmospheric score for Filthy Lucre is heard intermittently throughout the space, “punctuating the silence,” as Waterston describes it, “with hauntingly beautiful reverberations.” In honor of the band’s contribution to Filthy Lucre, museum galleries will be open on the night of BETTY’s performance, Saturday, March 22, until 7:30pm for BETTY ticket-holders. Waterston will speak briefly about his work and collaboration with the band at 7pm in the third-floor galleries.
A full bar, and dinner and snacks from Lickety Split, are available before and during the show. Tickets are $20 reserved seating, $12 advance, $16 day of, and $10 for students. Members receive a 10% discount. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA box office, located on Marshall Street in North Adams, from 11am to 5pm (open every day except Tuesdays). Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 x1 during box office hours or purchased online at MASS MoCA.